Nonlinear responses in damselfly community along a gradient of habitat loss in a savanna landscape

Abstract Riparian zones are among the most threatened natural ecosystems, being greatly affected by land use changes across the world. Working in a savanna landscape in the Central-West region of Brazil, we assessed the responses of damselfy (Odonata) communities to changes on native vegetation extent in riparian zones. We sampled damselflies around 98 streams in a continuous gradient of native vegetation loss (0 to 100%). We used the Threshold Indicator Taxa Analysis (TITAN) to test whether the damselfly community showed nonlinear responses related to native vegetation loss within buffers of 250 m radius. We collected 1245 individuals of damselflies, representing 31 species. The TITAN identified 16 species with a significant response: 11 species with negative indicators (Z −) and five as positive indicators (Z +) in relation to native vegetation loss. Six species showed evidence of nonlinear response (Z −), at sites with native vegetation loss between 40% and 60%. We also used segmented regression analysis with species richness, which showed weak evidence of a threshold located at 54% of native vegetation loss. Differently of previous studies with other taxonomic groups in forested environments, our results indicate that the variability around the threshold is higher. Under a precaution perspective and given current levels of vegetation loss around streams where the risk of losing species is higher, we reinforce the importance of appropriate landscape management strategies. In order to effectively conserve biodiversity in aquatic-and-terrestrial environments, the native vegetation loss within pastures and agriculture landscapes, should be above the “zone of increasing risk of impact” level. According to the current Brazilian Forest Act, riparian forest of at least 30 m wide must be preserved along both sides of each watercourse. In our study 30 m vegetation wide represents only 10% of the 250 m buffer area. It implies that the current Brazilian Forest Act does not preserve the Cerrado's riparian vegetation and its associated aquatic biodiversity, since the amount of native vegetation loss is below the “zone of increasing risk of impact” we detected for damselflies in evaluated landscapes.